Heavy D is the person who gave me my 1st chance in the music industry. He got me my internship at Uptown. He believed when no one else did.

Will.i.am also paid his respects saying “Heavy D inspired me to be me, thanks heavy” while Lenny Kravitz added: “I am so saddened by the passing of Heavy D. My condolences go out to his family. Rest in peace my friend. Guns and Roses. Lenny.”

Other rappers who took to Twitter included LL Cool J, Timbaland and Nicki Minaj who tweeted: “We’ll never forget you babe! RIP Heavy D.”

Myers rose to prominence as the leader of hip-hop group Heavy D & The Boyz, with whom he released five studio albums. The first of these came in 1987 with ‘Living Large’, followed by ‘Big Tyme’ in 1989, ‘Peaceful Journey’ in 1991, ‘Blue Funk’ in 1993 and ‘Nuttin But Love’ in 1994.

He then went solo in 1997 and released four further albums. These started with ‘Waterbred Hev’ in 1997, then ‘Heavy’ in 1999′, ‘Vibes’ in 2008 and lastly ‘Love Opus’ which was released in September this year.